Macron seeks new deal with Britain over Calais migrants

President Macron, pictured here in Calais today, will demand that Britain take more migrants in return for France’s approval of a Brexit dealMichel Spingler/EPA

President Macron will exploit his growing international stature to press Theresa May this week to open Britain’s borders to migrants stuck in Calais.

Mr Macron, who is due to visit Calais tomorrow, wants to raise the issue at talks with Mrs May at Sandhurst on Thursday. Gérard Collomb, the interior minister, has said that France is seeking pledges from Britain to take in migrants and increase its funding for border security in Calais.

Le Monde said that Mr Macron believed that the time was ripe to secure Mrs May’s help in curbing the crisis in and around Calais, where about 1,000 migrants from Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and elsewhere are sleeping rough. He will demand that Britain take more migrants in return for French approval…